NewsBin Pro Download Window
Click on the area where you need help or go back to the Main Screen
| The Download Window is where most of NewsBin's activity and the user's interactivity take place. NewsBin constantly updates the four panes here, Post List, Download List, Downloaded Files, and Status Messages, with the current download activity. The columns at the top of each pane allow sorting in the Post List and Download List panes. Also, there are a number of "Right-Click" menu options available when you right-click on a line. These options are covered in each section below. |
| The Post List contains a list of all available posts from the selected Newsgroups. The numbers to the right of the "Post List" label indicate the number of posts displayed versus the total number of posts found, regardless of any filters that are set. These numbers reflect actual files to be downloaded, not total posts in the literal sense. One file may be comprised of many posts (multi-part posts) but NewsBin counts them as one. This is why the number will always be smaller when compared to some other newsreaders such as Microsoft Outlook. |
This is the subject portion of the article available for download from a Newsgroup. The numbers to the right of the subject (i.e. [1/15]) indicate that there are 15 parts that make up the entire post. Clicking on the "Downloading Articles" column label will sort all the articles in alphabetical order based on the subject of the articles. Clicking multiple times switches between ascending and descending order.
NewsBin uses custom icons to show the status of individual posts. The icons are (enlarged for easier viewing):
Post is available for download, was stored from previous header download. Click in the box to tell NewsBin to
start downloading.
Post is available for download, header was just downloaded from the
server. Click in the box to tell NewsBin to
start downloading.
Post has been marked for download and moved to the Download
List.
Post is in the process of downloading. Progress can
be seen in the Thumbnail Bar
Download
Completed. Go to the Downloaded Files List
to view the file.
Error occurred while downloading. Check the Status
Messages tab to see what happened.
Indicates
an incomplete multipart post - all the parts do not exist on the server(s).
Indicates
that filters have been over-ridden with the Force
Download option.
Post
has been identified as Spam based on the number of cross-posts allowed.
This is set in the Spam Filters menu.
File
was rejected due to a filter set by the user. Reason for reject is shown
in the "From" column.
Post
has been terminated by the user.
A
non-fatal error occurred during download and NewsBin will retry.
File
was determined to be a duplicate - already downloaded.
This is the size of the file to be downloaded as reported by the news server. Clicking on the "Size" column label will sort all the articles in Size order. Clicking multiple times switches between ascending and descending order.
The date that the article was posted. Clicking on the "Date" column label will sort all the articles in Date order. Clicking multiple times switches between ascending and descending order.
The email address of the person who posted the article. In the binary groups, this is rarely a valid address. If you are seeing many unwanted posts which are posted by the same person, right-click on one of the posts and select "Poster Lockout". This will filter out any posts made by that person. Clicking on the "From" column label will sort all the articles in alphabetical order based on the "From" addresses. Clicking multiple times switches between ascending and descending order.
The Right-Click menu is available in different places throughout the program. In the Post List, you are given the following options:
This option will take the poster's email address of the post or posts highlighted and add them to the list of locked out posters. This means that any post that was posted with the locked out email address will be filtered from the post list. Hitting ctrl-p will allow you to do this without bringing up the right-click menu.
This option will take any portion of the poster's email address of the post or posts highlighted and add them to the list of locked out posters. This means that any post that was posted with an email address that matches this portion will be filtered from the post list. For example, adding "webmaster" as a keyword means that any email address containing the word "webmaster" will be filtered. Hitting ctrl-w will allow you to do this without bringing up the right-click menu.
This option will remove the poster's email address from the list of locked out posters. Hitting ctrl-u will allow you to do this without bringing up the right-click menu.
Clicking here or pressing the "ESC" key will close the Right-Click menu.
Clicking here or pressing ctrl-D will remove this post from the download list. Unchecking the box to the left of the subject has the same effect.
Clicking here or pressing ctrl-A will add this post from the download list. Checking the box to the left of the subject has the same effect.
Clicking on this option or pressing the "CTRL-Y" keys bypass any previous filter, failure, or duplicate match to force NewsBin to download the file. It will even download all the existing parts of an incomplete multipart post.
Clicking on this option or pressing the "CTRL-R" keys download the body of the post and display it in the Notepad.
Clicking this option or simply highlighting the post or posts and hitting the "DEL" key will remove the post from the list and add the post to the "Post ID Cache" so NewsBin will not display the post again.
Shows all the parts of the post that were found, the server each was found on, and the post number of each part.
Preview Bytes Available for Download
This is a number representing the size in bytes of the posts currently selected for download.
This is a number representing the number of posts currently selected for download.
This number represents the total bytes queued for download, including files that are actively being downloaded.
| The Download List contains a list of all posts selected for download. The number to the right of the "Download List" label indicates the number of posts queued for download, not including posts currently being downloaded. These numbers reflect actual files to be downloaded, not total posts as in multi-part posts. Clicking on each column affects the order of the download as discussed below. |
This is the subject portion of the article selected for download from a Newsgroup. The numbers to the right of the subject (i.e. [1/15]) indicate that there are 15 parts that make up the entire post. Clicking on the "Downloading Articles" column label will sort all the articles in alphabetical order based on the subject of the articles. This affects the order that the files are processed. Files at the top of the list are processed first. The sort order can be changed on-the-fly while NewsBin is running. Clicking multiple times switches between ascending and descending order.
This is the size of the file to be downloaded as reported by the news server. Clicking on the "Size" column label will sort all the articles in Size order. This affects the order that the files are processed. Files at the top of the list are processed first. The sort order can be changed on-the-fly while NewsBin is running. Clicking multiple times switches between ascending and descending order.
The date that the article was posted. Clicking on the "Date" column label will sort all the articles in Date order. This affects the order that the files are processed. Files at the top of the list are processed first. The sort order can be changed on-the-fly while NewsBin is running. Clicking multiple times switches between ascending and descending order.
The email address of the person who posted the article. In the binary groups, this is rarely a valid address. If you are seeing many unwanted posts which are posted by the same person, right-click on one of the posts and select "Poster Lockout". This will filter out any posts made by that person. Clicking on the "From" column label will sort all the articles in alphabetical order based on the "From" addresses. This affects the order that the files are processed. Files at the top of the list are processed first. The sort order can be changed on-the-fly while NewsBin is running. Clicking multiple times switches between ascending and descending order.
The Right-Click menu is available in different places throughout the program. In the Post List, you are given the following options:
Clicking here or pressing the "ESC" key will close the Right-Click menu.
Clicking on this option or pressing the "CTRL-Y" keys bypass any previous filter, failure, or duplicate match to force NewsBin to download the file.
Clicking this option or simply highlighting the post or posts and hiting the "DEL" key will remove the post from the list and add the post to the "Post ID Cache" so NewsBin will not display the post again.
This is a number representing the number of posts currently selected for download.
This number represents the total bytes queued for download, including files that are actively being downloaded.
| The Downloaded Files list contains a list of the last 1000(???) files that have been downloaded. The number to the right of the "Download List" label indicates the number of files actually downloaded, not including files that may have been purged from the list when the list of displayed filenames grew over the limit for the window. Clicking on each column does not perform a column sort as it does with the Post List and Download List tabs. Double-clicking on any filename will launch whatever viewer you have configured for the specific file. By default, your default web browser would be launched for pictures. If you have installed WinAmp, it will be invoked upon clicking on an MP3 file and most likely, Windows MediaPlayer or RealAudio Player would be invoked upon clicking on a movie file. Settings for these assignments (called File Associations) is a windows configuration available under the "My Computer" icon and clicking "View", then "Folder Options", and finally "File Types". |
The name of the file that was downloaded and is now on your hard drive.
The size of the file downloaded.
The subject of the post from which the file was downloaded.
The Right-Click menu is available in different places throughout the program. In the Post List, you are given the following options:
Clicking here or pressing the "ESC" key will close the Right-Click menu.
Selecting this option, clicking on "CTRL-E", or simply highlighing the filename and pressing the "Enter" key will launch your installed file viewer to view the file. For images, your web browser is launched by default unless you have installed a third-party picture viewer. For movies, MP3 or other music files, either Microsoft's Media Player or RealAudio Play would be launched. NewsBin uses the "File Associations" as configured in Windows to determine what application to launch. You can modify these settings by going under "My Computer" and selecting "View", then "Folder Options", and then "File Types". This configuration can be tricky so you may want to consult documentation on the Windows operating system for further details.
Clicking this option
This is a number representing the number of posts currently selected for download.
This number represents the total bytes queued for download, including files that are actively being downloaded.
Status
The Status Messages tab displays informational and error messages while NewsBin is running. Upon startup, the screen shows the loading of the Post ID Cache, the Signature Cache, and processing of spooled records. At this time, NewsBin purges old spooled records (older than 14 days, this is currently hard coded and is not a configuration parameter).
While NewsBin is running, this screen shows activity to the news server and to each group. If errors occur, this screen will tell you what happened. Example error messages to come...